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Robert Galasso (MUGSHOTS, BANK PHOTOS: Courtesy Lodi PD)
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Surveillance cameras caught stunningly clear images of a pimple-faced man, believed to be in his late 20s, who robbed a Chase bank branch in Lodi yesterday afternoon. READ MORE….
Paramus police made the first call, and Lodi detectives immediately connected with their counteparts in Paterson, at the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office and at the FBI field office in West Paterson.
Sheriff Richard Berdnik said Galasso robbed the bank in an effort to raise bail money for girlfriend Jennifer Khalil, 21, who’s being held on robbery charges in the Passaic County Jail.
What he didn’t know is that most jail phone lines are tapped.
Galasso (with “Sonny”), Khalil
Galasso was arrested without incident at the Paterson apartment where he’d been staying.
He’s now being held on $250,000 bail at the Bergen County jail, Lodi Deputy Chief Vincent Quatrone said.
Some cash from the holdup was recovered.
“We want to give people credit, because they deserve it: Paterson police helped us, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office helped us, and the FBI in West Paterson came out,” Quatrone told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
“But if all bank surveillance photos were that clear, it would only be a matter of time before we caught all of them,” the deputy chief said. “This one barely took three days.”
Originally from Hasbrouck Heights, Galasso has moved around quite a bit in just a few years, living in Hackensack, among other areas, with his pit bull, Sonny.
Galasso was free on a combined bail of more than $70,000 after he was arrested Feb. 1 in Lyndhurst on charges of aggravated assault, hindering apprehension and weapons possession — while on parole.
He already was wanted on another warrant issued out of Passaic two weeks ago for driving while on the revoked list.
A little over a year ago, Galasso spent four months in the Bergen County Jail for having drugs and a gun, as well as for ducking parole.
He also had a pair of active warrants out of Middlesex County at the time, records show.
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